Williams wreaking pre-season havoc
Josh Williams continued his assault on the Western Hockey League’s pre-season with two goals and two assists in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Taber Civic Centre.
Largely considered a lock for Medicine Hat’s regular season roster, Williams now boasts four goals and two assists in just two pre-season games.
The Hurricanes earned an early jump for the second night in a row when Ryan Vandervlis beat Tigers’ netminder Garin Bjorklund halfway through the first. But the Tigers kicked things into gear immediately after the goal.
First Mark Rassell finished off a feed from Williams to knot the game up, then Williams directed a one-time pass from Tyler Preziuso past Lethbridge’s Bryan Thomson two minutes later.
While Dylan Cozens brought the game back to even with a power play goal late in the first, then Vandervlis struck again to give Lethbridge another lead with a shorthanded goal, the Tigers assumed control in the third.
Williams and Rassell traded markers again in the final frame, with Rassell finding Williams 90 seconds into action then Williams returning the favour halfway through the period.
Ryan Chyzowski put the game away with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Medicine Hat’s Kaeden Lane collected the victory after stopping all 18 shots he faced in the second half of the contest. Bjorklund stopped 15 of 18 in 32 minutes of work before handing the crease over to Lane.
Thomson took the loss after allowing four goals on 28 shots.